1. Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with an apparatus for the rapid loading of pantyhose onto a stocking finishing medium which is specially equipped with a pneumatic reversing mechanism, and a method therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Machines for finishing stockings, such as those for sewing the toe portions, are known to make use of a pneumatic reversing mechanism with several horizontal parallel tubes projecting from a vertically intermittently rotating drum and arranged opposite to the vertices of a polygon, so that each pair of contiguous tubes can be used to receive a reversed panty portion of a pantyhose so that the legs of the pantyhose which were previously drawn into the tubes can subsequently be reversed onto the tubes.
It is also known that the loading of the pantyhose onto the reversing mechanism of the machines for sewing the toes of pantyhose is a manual operation which is carried out or performed manually by stretching the elastic edge of the panty portion and reversing the pantyhose, and further, by bringing the legs of the pantyhose close to the mouths of two contiguous tubes in the reversing mechanism to assure that the legs are drawn inside of the two contiguous tubes.
These operations in themselves are generally very simple, but since such operations must be repeated a very large number of times, considerable and constant attention on the part of the operator for carrying out such operations is required. This constant attention is required so that the loading rate never reaches the toe-sewing rate of the toe-sewing machine.